USPS Office of Inspector General

Credit Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos for bringing drones into the public consciousness with his December 13, 2013, 60 Minutes interview. In what many skeptics viewed as a masterful piece of marketing, he predicted that in the next 5 years, drones would further revolutionize the online retail industry. Suddenly, drones were on the national radar screen, even though only a few test models were actually flying.

There’s gold in them thar hills. Black gold that is. And gas and minerals. It’s not likely to spawn a TV show, like The Beverly Hillbillies, but the U.S. Postal Service has some experience with oil and gas leases, and earning royalties from them.

With mail volume declining and the mail mix changing, the U.S. Postal Service is adjusting processing capacity and the size of the network to better match the current workload. But getting to the end game has been painful, with plenty of bumps and bruises. Service, in particular, has taken a hit.

The world may be getting smaller, but cities are getting bigger. More than 80 percent of the country’s population lives in urban areas, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Fortunately, cities are getting smarter too. Using technology, data, and analytics, cities can implement “smart” projects with the aim of decreasing traffic congestion, cutting pollution, improving infrastructure, and better managing the overall territory of the city. For example, in Kansas City, Internet-connected devices can direct streetlights to dim unless they detect motion, saving energy.

Mail collection boxes are practically as American as apple pie. They also seem to be disappearing as quickly as mom’s homemade apple pie. 

Nationally, the number of collection boxes declined by more than 12,000 in the past 5 years. Some customers have complained the U.S. Postal Service has gone too far and removed too many collection boxes in neighborhoods. They’ve also questioned whether this effort is saving USPS money in the long run.